Abrasion-resistant coatings applied to substrates are already described in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,823 or EP 0 614 957 describes abrasion-resistant coating compositions containing hydrolyzed silanes and aluminum compounds, and coated articles resistant to abrasion and impacts. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,316,791, 6,503,631 and 6,489,028 describe a combined bi-layer impact-resistant and anti-abrasion system, comprising respectively a primer coating of cured polyurethane or poly(meth)acrylic latex or latex containing butadiene units to which an abrasion-resistant coating as described hereinbefore is applied. The latex may also be a photochromic latex, as described in EP 1 161 512 or FR 2 811 322. Such latex may improve the impact resistance of the article to which it is applied and also may give photochromic properties to said article.
Polarized glasses are also well-known in the state of the art for their ability to eliminate the glare produced by the reflection of light due to snow, sea surface, wet roads etc . . . , and to protect the eye itself. U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,661 describes an optical component comprising an orientation layer of photo-orientable polymer (LPP), which is irradiated and in same time cross-linked with polarized light, and an anisotropic film of cross-linked liquid crystal (LCP) material monomers wherein local orientation of the liquid crystal molecules is induced by the orientation of the (LPP) layer.
Usually, polarized layers are coated onto the substrate, by means of an adhesive layer applied between the substrate and the polarized layer. The addition of adhesive is, at the industrial scale, a cost-consuming and a technically fastidious step. Furthermore, this technology is very difficult to use on curved surfaces and it usually needs a thermoforming step of the polarized film.